Most of us living in America have only a very superficial
acquaintance with the camels we see in the Middle East. We have all
heard that they spit, and that they can go a long time without water.
We know that they are important beasts of burden to people living in
the desert, but the design of these animals is one of the most unusual
design systems in nature.

Camels can eat just about anything. Virtually all plants in the
Arabian desert can be eaten by the camel because its mouth is so tough
that even a thorny cactus does not bother the camel. They will eat
rope, leather, shoes, or any number of plant species. The dromedary
camel has one hump which weighs about 80 pounds and is filled with
fat--not water as many people think. This hump is a reserve food
supply, so that the camel can survive even with long stretches in which
food is not available. As the camel's body draws fuel from the hump,
the hump shrinks. When food is found the hump will grow back to its
normal size.

A camel's capacity
for water is incredible. Camels have been known
to drink twenty-seven gallons of water in ten minutes. This water is
processed so quickly that ten minutes after drinking the water, there
is none in the stomach. It is stored in the flesh of the camel. The
camel's blood can lose up to 40% of its water and still function. Human
blood is 94% water. If a human loses 12% of the water in their blood he
will die, and serious medical problems develop with a 5% loss. Camels
have elongated red blood cells that apparently allow them to do their
job even when much of the water has been lost. Camels can carry a
four-hundred-pound load a hundred miles across the desert and go eight
days without food or water. In one case, the animal lost 227 pounds but
was healthy and alert.

The camel's nose is also an incredibly well designed system. The
nose traps the moisture in the camel's breath and absorbs it in nasal
membranes. Tiny blood vessels in those membranes take the moisture back
into the camel's blood. There are also special muscles in the nose that
close the nasal opening so that sand cannot get in, but air can. The
camel's eyelashes arch over their eyes like screens that keeps the sand
and the sun's brightness out. If a sand grain does get in there is an
inner eyelid that automatically wipes the sand off the eye like a
windshield wiper. The camel's feet have tough leathery skin between the
toes so they will not sink into the sand.

Camels may appear to us to be very ugly, but they are incredibly
designed to be the "ships of the desert," and their design speaks
eloquently of their designer. Source of data: Moody Magazine 9/81.